Google Partnership

A round-up of our digital talent and innovation briefing with Google

We’ve teamed up with Google and Innovation Beehive to launch our new 2016 Breakfast Series on talent innovation in the digital age.

Senior L&D experts joined us from leading brands and agencies like Kantar and UNICEF to hear MOK from The Innovation Beehive talk about creating an innovation culture, and Sarah Logan from the Google Digital Academy share insights on Google’s approach to talent development.

The highlight (besides the smoothies delivered on a Google bike) was our roundtable discussion:

Google’s 2015 Talent Revolution survey revealed almost 80% of the marketing industry in the UK and Germany said they lacked the investment and resources required to improve their digital capabilities. L&D experts know of course that driving capability and innovation is fundamental to sustainable business success. However, how do leading companies overcome barriers and what levers do they use to drive forward cultural change?

Here’s a brief snapshot of some of the answers we debated.

What’s stopping companies investing more in talent development?

“The wall of fear”: Fear of technology, of data, of seeming out of touch

“Finding the bandwidth to help people learn”: Time is precious, and so is budget allocation

“It’s not my job – that’s what the digital people do”: Digital often seen as a job title, rather than embedding capability across teams

“We don’t know where to start”: There’s no playbook for digital upskilling

What could make the difference and address this challenge?

“Open-minded leaders and a strong learning culture from the top”: Management buy-in of the need to transform

“Clarity of vision”: Goal-setting and knowing where you want to be is vital

“Tech-enabled workforce”: Active demonstration of more agile and effective teams through digital